Frontline wants FCC to bar Verizon from upcoming auction

The upcoming FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction certainly has spurred much controversy amid ongoing disputes between open access proponents and telecoms. In the latest chapter, Frontline Wireless filed a complaint with the FCC late last week, asking for Verizon Wireless to be sanctioned and possibly barred from bidding in the upcoming spectrum auction for a violation of FCC lobbying rules.

Apparently, Verizon Wireless violated the FCCs rules requiring public disclosure of communications with the commissions staff about the January auction when, after meeting with FCC chairman Kevin Martin and a handful of other FCC staffers, the company provided only a brief, one-sentence description of the event. At the request of the FCC, Verizon filed a more detailed ex parte letter about the meeting on September 25 with an additional one-paragraph description.

Barring Verizon from bidding would be consistent with FCC rules, says Frontline. The company argues that Verizon is lobbying to get the FCC to change its mind about the open-access rules while it moves forward with a lawsuit it filed against the commission last month in the court of appeals.